Somewhere deep within the woods of Cornwall, a timeless force is stirring. Unseen beneath the ancient burial mound, known locally as Barrow Hill, a forgotten myth awakens. Use archaeology to discover that the barrow is more than just a collection of forgotten standing stones.

Tuesday, 18 October 2016

Wistman's Wood is an ancient oak woodland, south of Longaford Tor, on the huge expanse of Dartmoor. It is one of three high altitude oak woods, featuring in folklore, literature and film (which is where I first heard about Wistman's in the Found Footage horror "A Night in the Woods")

Wistman's Wood is South West facing, but nestled in the valley of the West Dart River. It is protected from the worst of the weather that blasts the high altitude. The rocks, huge granite boulders, tumbled from the nearby Tor's, allowing rich soil to gather and maintain the Oak Woods for millennia.

You can just about see the woods - Top Middle.

Basically, Wistman's wood is one of the oldest Oak Groves in Britain. It has an eerie atmosphere where you can imagine Yoda popping his head out.

I’ll admit it does feel odd to be entering an Oak grove, high on Dartmoor. I can understand why it has been enigmatic to artists and writers over the years.

Entering Wistman’s wood, the colour pallet changed from autumn yellows of the grassland to a deep mossy green, and Oak oasis teeming with woodland life (unusual on the moor).

Moss upon moss, upon moss. Many varieties can be found competing on every branch, even if the branch has long since perished.

Among the Oaks, a couple of Rowan trees and a Holly can be found, as well as their bright red berries littered across stone and green.

Strange mossy forms grow on the Oak branches, some of which are only held together by the moss itself.

Puffball full of spores, waiting for the popping

Coffin Rock

Every surface, crag or corner is packed full of interest. Cup Lichen grows alongside what I think are Petticoat Mottlegill mushrooms (Panaeolus papilionaceus)

Tumbled rocks are scattered through the oak woods, some curiously upright. Ancient man, Druids or Aliens?

Mossy tendrils

Some of the Oaks are thought to be 500 years old.

An example of Brown Roll Rim mushrooms, I think! (Paxillus involutus)

These 3 trees look like dancers.

A ferny wig for an old Ent.

What at first appears to be another large boulder, was revealed to be carved with text. Nothing ancient, this text has Serifs!

The Buller Stone, commemorates an attempt in 1866 to date the trees, when Wentworth Buller (with permission from the Duchy) felled an oak.

Amethyst deceiver mushroom

A brilliant autumnal day to be exploring the middle of Dartmoor. The grasses, in particular, looked vivid against the mix of storms clouds and blue sky.

Dartmoor Ponies dot the hillside, leading up to Longaford Tor.

There are few signs of industry, ancient or modern, up at Longaford Tor. As a natural outcrop, it has been crumbling and tumbling for millions of years. The hillside shows evidence of Bronze Age hut circles, meaning the Tor is likely to have been significant to the people who lived here 4000 years ago.

Where did all the rock in Wistman’s wood come from? Further up the slopes, the exposed Tor with the ‘Clitter’ beyond, scattered all the way down to the West Dart River

A return to Trethevy Quoit, the Neolithic ‘dolmen' burial chamber. Tall isn’t it! In the warmth of the weakening Autumn sun and patchy blue sky, it’s a change from how it appears in The Dark Path. This was the inspiration to the Barrow Hill Quoit. Thankfully no ‘witch’ possessions occurred today!

At least this photograph captured my best side.

A ramble walk around Siblyback Lake, located nearby on the south of Bodmin moor, the North West corner of which on the OS map is reported to be an ancient settlement... something else to investigate.

Here’s a collection of photos capturing today.

As the reservoir / lake waters have receded after the Summer months,
marshlands have emerged, much to the enjoyment of the birds.

Siblyback lake is a manmade reservoir that captures the water from the Bodmin moor. Surprisingly low at the moment, have we used that much water this summer?

Saturday, 24 September 2016

We stopped off at one of my favourite
spots, Golitha Falls, on the Southern edge of the mighty Bodmin Moor. It's a
mossy, wet, green place, where you half expect to see Yoda harvesting mushrooms
or the Green Man himself, playing with a fawn. The trees are old, bent and
fuzzy, supporting ferns and lichens on every branch. It's Mirkwood and
Sherwood,and all the fantasy forests, with a few lurking horrors too.

Throughout the wood there are ruins, mostly industrial, but
of an impressive size and scale to remind us of elves and dwarves from fantasy,
or the tombs plundered by Lara Croft in Cambodia. It's the moss that does it.
It's a sign of little disturbance and an abundance of moisture.

Elsewhere, frightful looking cages have been recently installed, to cover the old mine tunnels and pits. More of that, later, during Bracken Tor. ;-)

The forest as a place of magic and danger is found
among folklore wherever the natural state of wild land is forest: a forest is a
location beyond which people normally travel, where strange things might occur,
and strange people might live, the home of monsters, witches and fairies.

The day had turned very damp and muggy by the time we hiked
to the top of the hill above the falls. Earlier, Emma laughed at my claim that
Cornwall was upgraded recently to a 'sub-tropical climate' (it never drops
below 10 degrees Celsius in several places across the county).

"Really?! Umm, no!" was Emma's theory on the
matter, but things were different at Golitha. The rushing water, the abundance
of prehistoric plant species and the Spanish moss gave Golitha a 'rain forest'
vibe, where the witches and fairies take second place to weirdness of the wild.

Creating and capturing the locations has been a challenge,
with some new techniques employed to bring a dash of genuine Cornish magic to a
retro point-and-click adventure.

3D scanning proved very useful for capturing stones and
large monuments for use in-game, with lots used throughout the action as creepy
Druid stones, cliff faces and ancient way markers. There's something very cool
about taking a real world object and using it as set dressing, or even acharacter, in the fictional world of Barrow
Hill. The rocks are alive!

Texture has always been important too, especially when the
world I am creating is right outside my door. This year has been a busy one, so
far. Finishing off Bracken Tor, making The Dark Path, as well as taking part in
several archaeological digs, from the stone circles at Minions, to unearthing
the legendary castle of the King of Cornwall, at Tintagel.

Archaeology is a passion and an interest, sometimes at odds
with the New Age world, and pagan belief, but they are all represented in the
new game. It's been a pleasure to create an anniversary sequel to Barrow Hill,
exploring the themes of the first game in greater detail, with plenty of
puzzles, crazy characters and a few 'BOO!' moments too.